


Dragon Veins

by HotCocoaMocha



Category: Tales of Berseria, Tales of Zestiria
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Dragons, Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-26
Updated: 2019-07-26
Packaged: 2020-07-19 12:29:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,219
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19974091
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HotCocoaMocha/pseuds/HotCocoaMocha
Summary: The legends of the Shepherds are more commonly tied to the dragons.Shepherds, dragon riders, dragon whisperers... They're all the same thing.





	Dragon Veins

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry to disappoint, but this is _not_ that kind of fic. Don't worry, the violence comes later in a future chapter.
> 
> Enjoy~

The first change happens in the Rountabel Palace.

The place already had some splotches of malevolence here and there, but the Round Table Chamber _reeked_ of it. Bartlow, that _urchin_ (and that is putting it _lightly_ ), summoned the guards to kill Sorey. Knights in blue and white surrounded him, and it's all Mikleo could do to reign in his anger.

All it took was one of them yelling, " _Death to the knave Shepherd!_ " and someone managing to land a hit on Sorey, causing him to cry out, and Mikleo's anger boiled over.

It echoed in his ears, repeating in his mind:

_Death to the knave Shepherd._

_Death to the "knave" Shepherd._

_Death to the Shepherd._

_Death to the Shepherd, death to the Shepherd, death to the Shepherd death to the Shepherd deathtotheShepherddeathtotheShepherddEATHTOTHESHEPHERDDEATHTOTHESHEPHERD **DEATHTOTHESHEPHERDDEATHTOTHESHEPHERDDEATHTOSOREYDEATHTOSOREYD E A T H T O S O R E Y—**_

A screech shatters the windows.

* * *

" _...irst time....._ "

" _...at......oor boy...._ Will he be alright?"

"He's fine now for the most part. As long as he keeps resting like right now, he'll be back on his feet in no time."

As much as Mikleo would love to sleep in, his stomach has other ideas.

He turns on his side and curls up, sinking further into the bed as his stomach howls. An arm fumbles with the blanket before pulling it up and over his head. never mind the touch of it feeling somehow off.

Not too far away, he can hear Sorey chuckling and speaking with the innkeeper. "I'll let you know if we need anything else. Thank you so much."

"Of course, dear."

The door closes with a soft click. A weight bounces on the bed and leans over Mikleo, who groans softly. "Oh, come on, sleepyhead!" Fingers dig under the covers and under his shirt, lightly creeping along his sides. "You're wasting daylight!"

His leg kicks out as he twists and turns, scrambling to get away from Sorey and his persistent fingers. "S—stop!" he huffs, a grin stretching his lips when Sorey leans over his legs to pin them down, and those fingers tread along Mikleo's soles. "Nn— _knock it off!_ " Instead of stopping, Sorey yanks the blankets off and pounces on him, pushing his shirt up and attacking his sides.

After another minute of the one-sided tickle fight, Sorey braces himself over the bed. Forest green eyes stare down at the panting loser. "Do you yield?"

Mikleo bites his lip, a smile still quirking up the corners. He holds up a hand—

" _Nope!_ "

—and casts an arte spraying water in Sorey's face. His adversary yelps, flying back off the bed and reaching for a nearby towel. _Vengeance is served._ " _That_ is for not waking me up like a normal person."

Sorey's voice is muffled behind the towel as he squawks, "You were already awake though!" He still smiles when he pulls the towel away, and goes to sit back on the bed. "Feeling any better?" he asks, pressing the back of his hand on Mikleo's forehead.

"Y—yeah...?" Mikleo furrows his brow in confusion. "A little sore all over for some reason. I must have slept wrong but, otherwise, I'm fine. Why wouldn't I be?" There is a twitch in his ears, but he ignores that for now.

Sorey quirks an eyebrow. "You sure? You were burning up last night."

"I was?"

He tilts his head quizzically. "Don't you remember anything?"

And then everything comes back. Well, not _everything_ everything, but Mikleo remembers the events leading up to it, and bits and pieces of what probably happened after: Bartlow's messenger confronting them in the sanctuary while belittling them at the same time (he doesn't remember the man's name but who honestly cares), Sorey agreeing to the dinner invitation which was obviously a trap, Alisha being held back to wait for orders while Sorey went ahead alone, Bartlow summoning the guards...

...and that's it. Everything else in-between is blurry, but Mikleo does remember suddenly collapsing outside of the Vivian Aqueduct, and Sorey carrying him back to the inn. He was fading in and out, feeling like his insides were being frozen, then melted and burned, and then frozen and burned again; all while being stabbed by invisible daggers.

"By the way." Mikleo swings his legs over the bed, pushing himself up. "Where are Lailah and—"

For a moment, it's almost like being underwater. He hears Sorey talking, but every word is blurred out. Mikleo blinks, and finds himself staring up at Sorey. "Oh my gods," Sorey mutters breathlessly. "Don't scare me like that...!"

Mikleo notices his own breathing is more labored, and realizes how weak and lightheaded he feels. He felt fine before during Sorey's tickle onslaught so, why...?

"You stood up way too fast. You're still weak from last night. Here." Sorey helps Mikleo prop himself up against the pillows and explains everything.

Something about Bartlow and the guards' hostility triggered a reaction in Mikleo, causing him to "resonate," whatever that meant aside from the usual resonance. The Scattered Bones arrived with the initial intent of warning Bartlow of hiring them to "kill against their honor," but nearly turned tail at the sight of Mikleo.

They meant to lead Sorey and the others out through a hidden route, but Mikleo seemed to figure their path—through scent or instinct, no one really knows. Once they reached the Vivian Aqueduct, he all but cleared the way, and all but batted the Echidna around like a chew toy.

When they made it outside, Mikleo reverted to his original form and collapsed, his stamina all but drained. Because of the commotion, Alisha left with Lailah to handle the guards unaffiliated with Bartlow. In fact, all the noise reached and woken up more than a quarter of Ladylake's residents...

They spend the next two hours talking about old temples possibly hidden under the ocean, reading the Celestial record, until Alisha and Lailah come in with a tray full of food and fresh water. Mikleo raises an eyebrow upon seeing some plates of seafood (like that plate of baked fish and boiled eggs), but doesn't question it when the sight makes his mouth water.

Lailah chuckles behind her hand when Mikleo tries to muffle his stomach's growling, wrapping his arms around his middle over the blanket. "We've had a long night and, other than Sorey, we definitely missed out on dinner. Let's eat while we can."

Alisha sets the water pitcher down near Mikleo—

She yelps when she finally looks at him up close.

The twitching in his ears are from the pale fins taking their place; and growing atop his head are a pair of small, curved and light blue horns with teal, swirling patterns, like water. Aqua scales reach from his ear fins to under his eyes, atop his cheekbones like a very light splash of pale blue freckles.

"W—what's happened to Mikleo!?"

Sorey chuckles. "Oh, that? That sometimes happens when something _really_ catches him off-guard." His tone turns as confused as Alisha. "Although, he's been like this since last night... Lailah?"

"Draconic traits can manifest even when a seraph has never transformed before. It's only after the first time do we ever gain our wings, but we typically don't keep them out. They tend to get in the way of movement. However, post-transformation—"

The door opens and the innkeeper's eyes land on Mikleo.

His hood had fallen off.

" _...can render a seraph visible._ " Lailah's voice wobbles through her straining smile. "Horns and scales and all. _Oh dear..._ "

* * *

**{Skit: Pretty Horny}**

"Your horns are certainly unique, Mikleo." Lailah cards her hands through his hair, once brushing her fingers along light blue and solid keratin. "Even in all my years, I've never seen a pair quite like yours."

Mikleo hums, turning the page in the book Alisha lent him. "I got that a lot back in Elysia." Even with Sorey being the only human resident among the Elysians, Mikleo always felt out of place. "Gramps once said I could be in a huge crowd of seraphim children, and my horns would still give me away."

His horns aren't like the typical two jagged-but-sleek horns like Lailah's, nor does he have a smaller headband-like crest of them like Cynthia; instead, Mikleo's resemble...branches? Nothing complex like the veins on a leaf, but they do bifurcate a few times, and shed occasionally over the seasons.

"I never really understood why my horns are so different." He chuckles. "I guess they'll just be one of the seven mysteries of my life. At least they're small enough to hide under a hood, no matter how much they grow..."

Lailah pauses her impromptu brushing. "Why would you want to hide them?"

Mikleo can feel the confused look she's watching him with. He gives a halfhearted shrug. "Self-consciousness, I guess? With everyone constantly commenting on them..."

"Well, I think they're beautiful."

Heat rises to his cheeks as that compliment throws him for a loop. He keeps his eyes on the book, but there is _no_ stopping him from choking on air.

He clenches his teeth as the door to his and Sorey's inn room opens, and he hears Alisha squeak, "He's changed back! I—I thought it wore off!?"

Sorey chuckles. "Oh, that? Sometimes even a seraph consciously maintains a human form, their draconic traits pop out based on their emotions. That sometimes happens when something _really_ catches Mikleo off-guard." His tone turns as confused as Alisha. "Though, that doesn't really happen often. Lailah?"

"All I did was say his horns are beautiful."

Thoughts race through Mikleo's head faster than those wolf hellions running around Lakehaven Heights.

_Is this what being a fire seraph feels like? Constantly running a high temperature on your face?_

"Speaking of which, what do you think of his horns? Sorey? Alisha?"

_My stomach is turning and my head feels fuzzy, and it somehow feels nice. Should I be concerned? Am I getting sick?_

"Haha, you're definitely right about that! His horns really are beautiful. He's actually got Loanna beat in that department."

_...Wait, seriously?_

"Ah, Mikleo? Are you feeling alright?"

_Alisha, WHY!?_

"Mikleo!" Lailah's hands withdraw from his head completely, as if she accidentally burned him. "Your face is all red!"

Sorey chortles. "I've never seen him blush this bad before!"

Mikleo buries his face in the pillow he didn't realize he was clutching.

"But, Lailah, Sorey." Alisha tilts her head. "You said before that maintaining horns is like doing your nails or getting a haircut, right? His horns already look so complex, I can't imagine how much time he takes for them..."

That somehow summons enough courage for Mikleo to lift his head, never mind the remaining pinkish red on his face. "It's a lot easier than it sounds. Like you said, maintaining horns is like getting a haircut. More often than not, it's typically just a trim. If they prove too troublesome, like they're getting a little too big, we can always cut them off as long as we don't cut too near to the base. And I can make my fins disappear, so they're not too annoying."

Alisha blinks. "Too near to the base?"

"You can compare that to trimming a cat's claws." Lailah winces at her own comparison. "Close to the base inside of our horns is bone, and bones carry nerve and blood supplies. Just even skinning the tip is like a cat getting declawed, or a human limb getting amputated."

Mikleo flinches, hissing at Lailah's similes while his fins flatten against his head. "Kind of reminds me of when I was exploring some ruins with Sorey when we were around ten..."

Sorey cringes along with him. "Oh, yeah. You slipped on something and had a nasty tumble, your antlers broke at the base and started bleeding... It was pretty bad."

"Oh my!" Lailah murmurs, tenderly resting her hands on her Sub Lord's shoulders. "That must have been incredibly painful."

"It really was." Mikleo shudders at the memory. "As embarrassed as I am to admit, I was crying a lot. Gramps had some of the best medicine and dressing on hand, and those still didn't do much for the pain..."

As if sensing Mikleo's phantom pain, Lailah hastily changes the topic. "S—so, what is the difference between horns and antlers? I've seen many animals and, so far, seraphim with them, but I never understood those traits."

"Okay first off—" Sorey stops. "Um... _Uh..._ " He grins sheepishly. "Haha... I really don't know... I guess I never thought about it."

Alisha giggles. "Is now a good time to say Mikleo's, ah, 'horns' are actually antlers?"

Mikleo blinks hard. "Wait...really?"

"Really." Alisha nods. "You mentioned to me once about your horns shedding, yes? Shedding is what antlers do, not horns, which are actually permanent."

"Is _that_ why I've never seen other seraphim horns shedding!?" Sorey looks as shocked and embarrassed as Mikleo feels for never knowing this, especially when they never thought to ask Gramps, and they've had a small herd of Elysian goats nearby. "You learn something new everyday!"

The rest of the night is spent chatting over horn and antler maintenance, and the difference between the two structures.

Later that night...

"...Mikleo?"

"Hmm...?"

"How come you're the only one with antlers?"

".....One battle at a time, Sorey. _Go to sleep._ "


End file.
